Multivaried Information

The introduction of the world wide web (WWW) has brought a very new, exciting medium to the lives of many Americans as well as many members of the International community. The internet is currently being implemented and used by universities, students, businesses, families, and the like.

So where do we go from here? Where will the internet take our society ? Some argue that the internet will remain nothing more than a source of trivial information. Others argue that the www contains practical information, yet will never serve as a medium for traditional arguments. They proclaim the internet does not allow the author to force the reader in a set path such as a traditional book. Their argument states that the reader (surfer) has too many options while reading hypertext in order to follow an authors linear form of reasoning (philosophy). As a result, the author's task remains futile. Then, there are some that see the internet as a prospect for an inclusion of everything concerning information.

While it is true that I am no sociologist with published, self-proclaimed theories on the future of our society, or an economist containing the ability to foresee the intricate economic impacts of the underworld business circuit, I still have some views of my own. First, I think it is fair to say that the www presents our society with the most massive, yet easily accessible source of information to ever come along. Furthermore, there are very few restrictions. Aside from the astethics involved in the reading of a traditional book, the internet can duplicate the effects of a book. In fact, it presents even more options. If the author is trying to create a linear argument using hypertext, he can either use links in his text or keep it free of these nodes. If he does not use links, then the argument or story is essentially a traditonal book, or document, depending on the writer's intentions. Granted, the reader could click on the "home" node. But then again, a reader can close a book. Yet the beauty of the "net" lies in the authors ability and option to include links. It is in this ability that hypertext presents a handful of options and ideas. Links and nodes can turn an ordinary source of information into a exciting, exploratory product. The writer has the option to write in linear or non-linear fashion on the www. Therefore, as stated earlier, the internet and hypertext allow for the duplication of past publications as well as exciting new ventures. While this opinion is just an opinion, not a fact, I hope to prove my argument by using the context of my argument, the internet.